Weekly review and upcoming events

Last week, global markets rallied together with commodities as the Fed decided to hold back rate hiking. The US dollar collapsed against its major peers. Crude oil extended its rally on hopes that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC and non-OPEC countries (representing over 70% of global oil output) will announce a plan to freeze output in April.

The Nikkei was down due to stronger Yen and disappointment following the BOJ’s decision to keep its policy rate unchanged. The Chinese market led the rebound of emerging markets, with the Shanghai composite registering a weekly gain of 5.15%. The Hang Seng Index climbed 3.44%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was up 1.74% last week, closing at a three-month high.

JPY strengthened 2.19% against USD to 111.54, its strongest level over the past 16 months. The euro gain ed1.17% against USD last week, despite the ECB expanding its asset-purchasing plan and cutting rates by another 10 bps earlier in the week.

Global markets’ weekly performance (14th- 18th March)

Dow Jones

1.21%

S&P 500

1.35%

Nasdaq

0.99%

Euro Stoxx

-0.75%

DAX

-0.02%

Shanghai Composite

5.15%

Hang Seng

3.44%

Nikkei

-2.51%

ASX 200

0.33%

Nifty 50

1.25%

Straits Times

.74%

What happened last week:

The BOJ kept its policy rate and monetary base unchanged

The Fed decided against a rate hike in March, the Dollar index collapsed

Saudi Arabia and OPEC members will gather in April to discuss an output freeze. Iran is excluded

The PBoC governor expressed concerns over the country’s rising debt-to-GDP ratio, and he encouraged corporates to increase equity financing and reduce reliance on debt

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